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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Sallent, post: 2512501, member: 76194&quot;]This is the last of my Indian shopping spree this weekend. I hope you enjoy this write up:<img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie50" alt=":happy:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>In the wake of Alexander the Great&#039;s conquests in India, many local kingdoms were destabilized and a power vacuum developed, which local warlord Chandragupta Maurya exploited to found India&#039;s first great empire, the Maurya Empire. This vast Empire brought much of what is today present day India and Pakistan into the control of a single central authority, with standardized rule, commerce, and coinage. So powerful was Chandragupta Maurya that he was able to conquer most of the easternmost satrapies left by Alexander, and even defeated the Seleucid Empire&#039;s army headed by Seleucus I Nicator in battle. Did I mention that Chandragupta Maurya did most of that by the time he was 20 years old? By the time we was 35 he was feared by the remnants of the Indo-Greek kingdoms and people as far west as Greece had heard of him. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie9" alt=":eek:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]534606[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>Chandragupta Maurya</b></p><p><br /></p><p>Although the exact details of the military engagements of Chandragupta Maurya against the Seleucid Empire are lost to history, it is known that Seleucus I Nicator suffered a disastrous defeat and had to surrender massive amounts of territory to the Maurya Empire.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]534607[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>Tetradrachm issued under the rule of Seleucus I Nicator.</b></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]534608[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>Maurya Empire during the lifetime of Chandragupta Maurya</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p>Chandragupta Maurya&#039;s successors went on to unify most of India under one system of laws, coinage, and commerce. In effect, the coin below was the first national currency of India.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]534609[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]534610[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Obverse</b> Five official punches.</p><p>(See image below for the official marks)</p><p><b>Reverse</b> One reverse mark (the so-called &quot;Taxila&quot; mark)</p><p><b>Date</b> c. 3rd-2nd century BCE</p><p><b>Weight</b> 3.31 gm.</p><p><b>Dimensions</b> 16 x 16 mm.</p><p><b>Die axis</b> n.a.</p><p><b>Reference</b> GH 574</p><p><b>Comments:</b> <b>According to Gupta and Hardaker, the Series VIb coins date to c. 270-175 BCE, the time of the great Mauryan emperor Ashoka and his successors. Ashoka, of course, was the emperor who spread the word of the Buddha throughout his empire.</b></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]534611[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>Maurya Empire at it&#039;s Maximum extent (Circa 250 BCE)</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b></b>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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